Octave
/ˈɒk.tɪv/noun
A group of eight notes, or a musical interval spanning eight scale steps; also the eighth day after a feast in Christian liturgical use.
Did you know?The word came through Latin from the idea of an “eighth day,” and in Christian liturgy an octave was a sacred eight-day extension of a feast, turning a number into ritual time.
Etymological Timeline
Proto-Indo-European
PIE
*októw
“eight”
Latin
Latin
octavus
“eighth”
Late Latin
Latin
octava
“eighth day; eighth part; a feast day repeated on the eighth day”
Old French
Old French
octave
“eighth; the eighth day after a church feast”
Middle English
English
octave
“the eighth day after a feast; the interval of eight notes”
Modern English
English
octave
“a musical interval spanning eight diatonic steps; a set of eight”
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